Category: Visits
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The Mausoleum in a Picture Gallery
On a long, leafy road by a prestigious school, death hides in plain sight. It’s actually a slightly more embellished version of a building that once stood elsewhere. The Dulwich Picture Gallery is the world’s first purpose-built exhibition space. It houses paintings by Canaletto, John Constable and Thomas Gainsborough as well as lesser known works…
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The Top 7 Graves Associated with Dickens
The story of Ebenezer Scrooge from visits by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future is as familiar to us now as the story of Jesus laying in his manger. One of the most iconic scenes in the story is as the Ghost of Christmas Future shows Scrooge his own name on a headstone.…
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Execution: 700 Years of Punishment in London
Death as a form of entertainment is nothing new to the history of London. From the 12th to the 19th centuries, watching someone die was one of the hottest tickets in town. Who knew that the class system informed how you would meet your maker? Beheading was often the preferred method of dispatching the upper…
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Bones Beneath a Bishop’s Palace
A Victorian dog and his master A pleasant fifteen minute amble from Parsons Green station, Fulham Palace and its gardens is managed by a charitable trust. In continual possession of the Church of England since AD 704 (when Bishop Waldhere acquired the Manor of Fulham) it is a scheduled ancient monument – which gives it…
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This Is Halloween
Ooooh GAWD it’s my Christmas! This week sees all manner of deathly symbols and imagery invade supermarkets, schools and offices. Whilst like any other festival, its commercialisation does seem to have detracted from its origin as Samhain, a time indicating the start of the darker part of the year and the time where the veil…
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The Top 6 Graves of Chartreuse
Feminists, mummies and Death himself: Cimetrie de la Chartreuse is literally crammed with history and fascinating people Opening in 1791, it was built on the former gardens of a Carthusian monastery and is a literal suburb of the dead; many of Bordeaux’s great and good have been laid to rest here. I was supposed to…
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Visiting The House Of Life
A Grade II listed cemetery in Zone 3? A short walk from Dollis Hill tube station lies a cemetery I doubt many of the local people even know about. Hidden behind a wall from Pound Lane, this place of rest once catered to a thriving local Jewish community who have long since moved away to…
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Bones in a Library
…after being found under a driveway. In 2014, Alison Carpenter just wanted her driveway finished. A new home came with the associated building work you’d expect as she and her partner wanted to make their home their home. It took longer than expected and cost more than was anticipated; so it was decided to finish…
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My Top 9 Instagram Posts 2018
Take a look at my most-liked photos on #Instagram – fairytale mausoleums, Roman Dead and 19th century visionaries!
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A Jaunt to the London Necropolis
‘So. Sheldon. The Monuments and Mausolea Trust are having their AGM at Brookwood Cemetery. You want in?’ How could I, intrepid cemetery enthusiast and curator of Cemetery Club, say no? Brookwood is one of those cemeteries I’ve long been meaning to visit. Mike Fox of the Monuments and Mausoleums Trust in Waterloo kindly invited me to…
Cemetery Club 